Rare seeding of Waimea causes shuffle of brackets

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Waimea High School's mascot is the Menehune, but its softball team already has become a giant in terms of affecting the brackets for the Chevron state tournament starting today at the University of Hawai'i's Rainbow Wahine Stadium.

Danielle Young is a speedy leadoff hitter for No. 1 seed Kailua in the Chevron state tournament. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The result is two BIIF teams in the first round, and a huge opening-day matchup between O'ahu Interscholastic Association powers Mililani and Castle tonight at 7.

Hawai'i High School Athletic Association executive director Keith Amemiya said each state tournament must follow guidelines in setting up the brackets. One of the guidelines is to separate league champions from their runners-up, which meant BIIF champ Hilo (10-1) and runner-up Waiakea (9-2) had to be placed in separate brackets.

Since the BIIF hadn't had two teams in the first round since 1993, that guideline was overlooked when the original first-day schedule was drawn up on Sunday. It had Castle, the OIA's fourth-place team, facing Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Punahou tonight. It also had OIA runner-up Mililani facing Waiakea.

But that scenario placed Hilo and Waiakea in the same bracket, and when the oversight was discovered on Monday and the schedule redrawn, Castle (9-3) was matched up against Mililani (12-1) and its All-State pitcher, Miki Asamura.

"Never a dull moment," said Castle coach Jon Berinobis on Monday night, minutes after learning of the change. "I would rather be playing Punahou, especially because we've already played Mililani twice (including preseason) and lost both times. We just gotta get ready and find a way, I guess."

Mililani coach Mike Okimoto wasn't exactly thrilled about the revised schedule, either. His Trojans beat Castle 2-0 in last week's OIA semifinals, but the Knights were without ace Lia Pedrina and starting center fielder Sachelle Featheran. Pedrina, who was out with an injured tailbone, practiced Monday and could be ready by tonight.

Featheran has recovered from the flu and played in Saturday's third-place game.

"It's a harder road now," Okimoto said. "Now they've got their No. 1 pitcher and two more sticks in the lineup."

Amemiya said the seeding committee decided to award Waimea the No. 4 seed based on the BIIF's poor performance in past state tournaments compared to Waimea. BIIF representatives are a combined 0-8 in the past two tournaments, while Waimea has gone 4-3.

Amemiya said there were few options available in the re-scheduling, and flip-flopping Mililani and Punahou proved to be the one that caused the least disruption while still preserving the guidelines.

The beneficiary of the revised schedule may be Punahou, which originally was set to face Castle but now will play Waiakea.

Punahou (14-3) has a consistent pitcher in sophomore Sarah Weisskopf and an outstanding defense to back her up. Weisskopf also limits base runners with very few walks.

For any of the aforementioned teams to win the title, however, they probably will have to first get through any of the top three seeds — Kailua, Kamehameha and Baldwin. That alone is a monstrous task.

No. 1 Kailua (13-0) took second last season and lost only one player to graduation from that team. Sophomore pitcher Courtney Kessell is perhaps the state's top strikeout pitcher, and her defense returns almost intact from last year.

The Surfriders' batting lineup, starting with speedy leadoff hitter Danielle Young and ending with Kessell, is solid all the way through.

Defending champion Kamehameha, the No. 2 seed, is similar, except the Warriors (15-2) have two ace pitchers in Kate Robinson and Brandi Peiler. Robinson, an Advertiser All-State first baseman last season, has pitched a five-inning no-hitter and two one-hitters plus a two-hitter against Iolani (13-3). Peiler, an All-State outfielder in 2002, has pitched a perfect game, a no-hitter and tossed a four-hit shutout of Punahou in last week's ILH championship game.

Kamehameha's lineup also includes shortstop Sharee Fonoti, another first-team All-State selection from last year (as a third baseman).

No. 3 Baldwin, the 2001 state champion, reached the semifinals last season and returns All-State outfielder Zoie Sevilla, pitcher Sabrina Alesna-Mindoro and infielders Chevy Wong, Jenna Mailou and Kristi Ah Yen. Bears coach Ryan Souza, who brought only 10 players to the 2002 tournament, is bringing 11 this time.

"Ryan does wonders with that team; people don't understand how good a job he's doing," Okimoto said. "He doesn't have a lot of kids, but the ones he has are just tougher mentally and they're always very competitive in the state."

Among the sleepers are Leilehua, which made a surprise run to the semifinals last year and is peaking at the right time again this season, and Kapolei, which is making its first state tournament appearance in a team sport.

Kapolei is only in its third year as a school and has no seniors. Yet the Hurricanes (11-3) led Mililani 2-0 in the fifth inning in the regular season before losing 3-2. They finished fifth in the OIA.

"They swing the bat and they have speed and pitching," Okimoto said. "You cannot take them cheap."

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